1. Field of the Invention
The invention generally relates to handovers in the field of wireless communications, and more particularly, to apparatuses and methods for handovers between heterogeneous networks to improve the performance of wireless transceiving.
2. Description of the Related Art
With growing demand for ubiquitous computing and networking, various wireless technologies have been developed, such as the Wireless Fidelity (WiFi) technology, Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) technology, General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) technology, Enhanced Data rates for Global Evolution (EDGE) technology, Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) technology, Code Division Multiple Access 2000 (CDMA-2000) technology, Time Division-Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access (TD-SCDMA) technology, Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) technology, Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology, Time-Division LTE (TD-LTE) technology, and others. For user convenience and flexibility, most Mobile Stations (MSs) nowadays are equipped with more than one wireless communication module for supporting different wireless technologies. However, each wireless technology has its own features, such as bandwidth, average coverage, and service rate, etc. Particularly, the bandwidth and coverage provided to an MS by a wireless network may vary according to the location conditions of the MS and/or the time condition.
Take an MS operating in either an Android or a Windows system, which supports WiFi and WCDMA technologies, for example. The MS always selects a WiFi network over a WCDMA network, even if the signal quality of the WiFi network is bad while the signal quality of the WCDMA network is fair/good. That is, the MS is configured to stay connected with the WiFi network with bad signal quality, regardless of the availability of the WCDMA network with fair/good signal quality. In such circumstances, even browsing a web page may take a long time, and accordingly, the user may experience a serious delay of wireless connectivity. Thus, to improve the performance of wireless transceiving, it is desirable to provide smart handovers between heterogeneous networks.